When a storage battery mounted on a vehicle such as an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle is charged, a charging connector for a charging cable is attached to a power receiving connector provided in a vehicle body to feed power through the charging cable to the storage battery. Normally, a locking mechanism is provided at the power receiving connector for preventing the charging connector from coming off the power receiving connector.
An example of such a locking mechanism is one that includes: a hook arranged at a front edge of a charging connector; an engaging projection formed at a front edge of a power receiving connector; and an actuator arranged above the power receiving connector (see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2014-120421, for example).
The actuator includes: a housing that houses a driving mechanism; and a lock pin that protrudes from a front surface of the housing. The lock pin is movable forward and backward in the front-rear direction with respect to the housing (that is, in a direction of plugging the charging connector).
In the above-described locking mechanism, as the charging connector is plugged into the power receiving connector, the hook abutting on the engaging projection tilts upward. Once the hook moves over the engaging projection, the hook tilts downward to engage with the hook and the engaging projection. Then, the lock pin moves forward with respect to the housing to have the front portion of the lock pin arranged above the hook of the charging connector. This allows the lock pin to restrict tilting motion of the hook so as to fix the hook in a state of being engaged with the engaging projection of the power receiving connector, so that the charging connector is prevented from coming off the power receiving connector while power is being fed.